Noel

Stunning result. That platform shelter is also a gem.

Any plans to stock old CIE denis double decker buses with the hop on/off rear platforms?

PLay time! Took a break from construction today to play and try some shunting and test track, point motors and uncoupling magnets. Now that wiring is proven ok, after sufficient play time can proceed to next phase of scenics.

Thanks George. Pleasantly surprised that it is coming along, two years ago I doubted I might be able to manage something like this. Also relieved to get over milestone hurdles. Getting the wiring done and debugged was a major relief, cause nothing else can happen until that was fully proven. Relieved and pleased also that the experimental elements worked out (eg double foam layers under track, WMRC quick build lightweight baseboard design, Cobalt Alpha system, etc.). Happy to be able to proceed to the next elements which includes signalling and landscaping. But I may be tempted by some play time shunting goods wagons, delaying next progress steps.

Yes indeed, No doubt an economic casualty of CV-19 With zero revenue for past 15months.

Yes and all of the coaches had Hornby style tension lock couplings Insulfrog points so walk away

More running tests today to test wiring of power and point motors. Discovered one minor problem, a 2 inch dead section I'd forgotten a dropper for, easily added and connected to the nearest DCC dropper board. Test below of DCC switch encoder from DCC concepts. Their AEU allows any type of switch to remotely control any DCC accessory decoder on the layout. I chose this method so that my lever switch frame could be portable, and plug into the cab bus anywhere on the layout. Saves wiring looms running all over the place. Saves time. Only eating the pudding will tell how well this will stand the test of time, but so far impressed with the massive amount of wiring work this Cobalt eco system saves and how easy it is to get it all connected together. Today was spent testing the wiring. First a comprehensive test with an Ammeter revealed one small snag which was easily rectified. Then test with DCC track bus enabled and DCC cab bus enabled. The Cobalt eco system can connect directly to the NCE cab bus. Impressed how easy the DCC concepts Cobalt eco system is to set up and especially impressed how much it simplified and reduced the amount of wiring needed. Saved me literally days of work. The less wiring there is the less there is to go wrong. The Cobalt ADfx8 accessory decoder and Cobalt AEU are the back bone of the system. Can work with ant switch type or any pain motor type, but I opted for Cobalt IP Analog point motors (stall type). Now I can switch points either from the NCE cab control using the accessory mode, or by physically operating switches which I prefer.

Fairenoughski. To answer the original question if RTR track system and models were available, then yes for small shunting layout. I’d did ponder at the outset if Gort would be possible in 21mm but decided against due to lack of suitable rolling stock and the mammoth task of hand built track that would run as reliably as well as code 75. For me personally the running quality always trumps scale appearance. Ones imagination can bridge many gaps.

http://www.woodworkers.ie you can order it precision pre-cut by lengths and width online. WMRC got all their laser cut baseboard elements from the above. Ply is more stable than MDF especially as thin as 6mm. Richards famed Everrard junction had to be ripped up and replaced with ply due to eventual sagging of MDF which is a moisture magnet. WMRC used 6mm ply for their “little sidington” base board brick modules. Light weight, portable, strong and stable.

Personally for me it would take a 21mm track Point system as good as Peco code 75. Long, medium crossings and curved points. Making up 21mm track even from kit would be torture to get it right and reliable, and we’ve all already learned running reliability and performance matter more than appearance. Derailments went out with super 4 track in the 70s. For hand made or kit made track it would have to have sleeper chairs. Also converting stock would be a nightmare to get reliable running after. It would be like Betamax, better but everybody else has VHS so buying and selling stock gets complicated, and no going down to the club to run once’s stock on its layouts. The idea of 21mm sounds just possible for a nice 10ft end to end shunting layout. There are zero RTR 2 axle wagons of my era that could be converted by just swapping wheel sets, and converting locos 100% successfully it seems might need a resident Eoin Murray. Butchering existing chassis to fit 21mm wheel sets is not an option for me. Now if I was ever tempted whatever model track gauge would be correct for 5’3” in 7mm scale (ie O gauge sized models) has a certain appeal, a single 141 and a 121 (ie 3D on foundry chassis) with half a dozen 2axle wagons has operating potential on a 15ft end to end shunting layout 3ft wide. But if it didn’t run 100% reliably the scale appearances matter little. Trains are to be driven, not just display cases. One day perhaps but the Betamax v VHS parallel is off putting.

Its alive First DCC test run, a brief shunt

Ebay. The actual ones I got are not currently listed but they seem identical to these. They are designed for larger cables but by angling them so that the low voltage wires stay in the opposing jaws they work well. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/20-40-60pcs-wire-storage-clips-buckle-securing-cable-clamp-data-line-finishing-/133527190403?var=&hash=item1f16d73b83 Wiring phase continues: Finished installing the last point motor last night but upon testing discovered there was a mystery short circuit somewhere. Mystery solved today without ripping up ballasted track. Obviously six months ago when I was modifying the peco electro frog points in the usual manner I forgot to remove the two short bridging wires on the point blades of this one point. I managed to sort it without lifting the already ballasted point by micro drilling at 45º angle through sleeper to cut the wires under the point. All good now. Was dreading lifting it. I had correctly bridged the stock rails to the outer ends of the blades. I had spent an hour examining a new point comparing using ammeter with the ballasted one. All I need to do now is solder up the connectors for the two base boards. Was not dreading the potential need to lift this one. It was the only point I forgot to snip the bridge wires. Rectified without removal via micro drill which cut the bridging wires under the point. Will fill and paint over the holes later. These are the link bridging wires I forgot to snip off this one point last year when preparing them for track laying. Now to hook up and NCE power cab and switch on. Tested track work using DC yesterday.

Ennis/Limerck board wiring is now complete and tested. Had one minor short to sort on one of the Cobalt connector blocks. Test ran loco on DC to check frogs polarity switching ok. Smooth as a button. While I was at it tested the under tack uncoupling magnet as now is the time to rectify any problems. Just in case. So far all good, now finishing the Athernry board wiring. The boards will be connected with 25pin D type computer connectors (ie the type used on RS232 serial printer cables 35 years ago). I'm bored now, what's happening next? With hindsight it was well worth painting the underside of the base boards even though it seem unnecessary at the time they were constructed, handy for self adhesive cable keeps and tempoary alignment of Cobalt point motors.

Fitted Cobalt Analog point motors today and wired up the integrated frog polarity switch. Made a portable test harness using a 9v battery and DPDT switch which was useful for testing alignment and throw of the point blades. Really impressed with the Cobalts ease of installation, a little noisy perhaps but at least no 'gun shot' solenoid switch noise. Nice to see blades move more slowly and prototypically. The pressure contacts on the Cobalt PCB makes wiring really easy and swapping frog polarity is really quick and easy to do. While these are Analog motors they will be switched digitally using an ADfx8 decoder module, so that cab controls can be used to switch points, but there will also be an AEU encoder wired to a lever frame set of switches plugged in to the Cab bus for physical switching of points. The lever frame will only need two wires connected to it so I will be able to move the lever frame around the layout rather than run a bundle of wiring to each switch. I hope to make a plug in signal box modules and use the same digital interface to control signals. Only two wires to each point motor for both power and switching Local frog polarity switch on point motor for electrofrog point All point motors powered by the ADfx8 decoder Only two wires to power and control the ADfx8 decoder from the DCC track bus Points can be switch by physical lever frame switches or digitally from DCC cab Virtual signal box containing the lever frame switches is portable as it only needs a single cable to connect it into the CAB bus of the DCC system, so it can be moved between the front and back of layout using just an RJ12/45 plug like a cab. The AEU encoder gets its power from the CAB bus. Lever switches short pair of wires to the local AEU board. Once the wiring has been 100% tested ready to start the scenic landscaping above the boards

The trick with eBbay seems to be to decide your max price, and make only one single bid 10 seconds before bidding closes. You win or lose, but no gazumping. Hi Paul That doesn't seem too a bad price. Box irrelevant to somebody like me who only runs stuff.

Layout stripped of structures for more wiring. On its side now for ease of access under the baseboards. Backscene acts as stabiliser while board are on their side. Lots to be done under here. Baseboard sits happily on its side using back scene for added stability. Made a test harness for fitting the Cobalt Analog point motors which run off a portable 9v battery during fitting and alignment testing. Removed the entering springs from the points.

Hear Hear. Brass master at work

Staggeringly beautiful. Photo realistic. Looking at those photo I can hear birds and the sound of bees pollination the vegetation of a summers morning. Drenched in atmosphere. Pure class and an inspiration.

Hope so, I'm in need of some extra door stops, ran out of Lima 201 peat briquettes.

Or a 22k rollar skate yoyo

You've discovered the cunning plan then? Seriously in terms of passenger stock: CIE Black'n'Tan A ran with Laminates, Bredins, Park Royals & Cravens single stripe, and ST mk2d's for a brief period before all A classes got the ST livery CIE ST A class ran primarily with ST Mk2d, but could also have hauled all of the above and even early IR Tippex Mk2d for a while before the locos got their IE Tippex stripes IR Tippex A class mainly hauled Mk2d in IR Tippex with orange roofs, Cravens, and Park Royals as laminates where phased out. Yes it might be useful for new comers to have access to livery and formation compatibility charts. I think one of the UK retailers like Rails or Hattons did something like this in the UK for BR stock.

It seems a bit like one of those hollywood Frankenstein horror movies of the 1940s, when a crowd of village people are outside the gates of the castle speculating what the flashing lights up in the castle mean. We can enjoy pondering the future but bare in mind the 141/181s were actually a bachmann product produced for MM, so no idea where the IP or tooling ownership resides which could be a complicating factor in deciding the viability of re-runs or refreshes. The 141/181s were and still are truly superb locos not least because they are still to this day probably the best and smoothest running model locos. The only improvements needed are perhaps an easy access hatch to fit a decoder, supplied with a decent built in speaker (ie not the tiny sugar cube in the 121), and with independent control of the head lamps (ie decoupled from the running lights). The staff collectors on the 141/181s were actually more scale like in detail than the 121. Only one of these changes would require a partial retooling (ie centre body section), but not an iota what such might cost. I still think if they were rereleased exactly as they were in 2008 they'd still sell out faster than a torch for a party of priests lost in the caves of Clonrickert. Now back to the castle gates, what's going on up there?

We are already blessed with a bountiful supply of top class Irish model locos. I do agree the BachmannMM 141/181s would probably fly off the shelves faster than Fr Jack chasing a bottle of brandy in his turbo charged wheelchair including double flywheel, all wheel drive, keepalive and ANDAS (automatic nun detection and avoidance system). The imminent arrival of A class should put enough Irish model mojo in the market for decades to come. If I was a betting man I’d put a tote bet each way on future 141/181s, 071s and even C classes eventually coming to market from some manufacturers. The well is only so deep. Patience will yield reward.

Great find for your collection of railway memorabilia.